CHAPTER XII. A FACE IN THE WINDOW.
"Ugh! that right, Eli; wolf only cry like that!" said a voice closebeside the two who stood there; and turning, they could make out a figurewhich they knew must be that of Sebattis; but so softly had the Indianslipped out, after hearing that well-known though faint howl, that evenEli, sharp ears though he possessed, had not detected his coming until hespoke.
"Where thar's one wolf thar's agoin' ter be more," remarked the old Maineguide, with the air of one who knew what he was talking about.
"Huh! wolf he always hunt in pack, never by self," observed Sebattis,drily.
"That adds a little spicy flavor to our being up here, then," Thad wenton to say, being not displeased; for if only he could have that magicallittle rifle of Step Hen's in his hands, he cared not how many of thefierce brutes he might run across; for with its quick-shooting qualities,and the deadly nature of the bullets it used, he believed he could takecare of all comers. Besides, if hard-pressed, it was always possible totake to a tree, where one would be safe from the cruel fangs of theanimals.
When they went inside, and told what they had heard, the boys receivedthe news with various shades of enthusiasm. Giraffe was really pleased,for he meant to do something bold on this trip that would foreverestablish his reputation as a mighty Nimrod; Step Hen fondled his rifle,and then stood it in the corner close to the spot where he had spread hisblanket, as though he had a faint idea he might find need for it in thenight; Davy Jones shrugged his shoulders, and hoped he would not happento run across the pack when alone; and as for Bumpus, he deliberatelychanged his blanket, placing it on the further side of several others,away from that open door.
But Eli had been examining that same door, and was of the opinion that,with a little effort, it might be coaxed to shut. This he proceeded toaccomplish, and with a success that won him a cheer from the timidBumpus.
"Never did like to sleep in a draught," muttered the fat scout; "and I'mglad the glass stayed in that window all these years."
"That is queer, for a fact," observed Thad. "But I reckon now it wouldnever have held out if some of the fellows we have in Cranford had comealong."
"You hit it right about that, Thad," agreed Step Hen. "Take that AmbroseGriffin and his cronies, Eli Bangs and Walt Hopkins, and they never couldpass an empty house without shyin' stones at the windows. I've heard asmash many a time, and seen one of them scootin' away like hot cakes.Guess they like to hear the jingle of the broken glass; it must soundlike music to some fellers."
"What's thet ye say 'bout Eli?" asked the old guide, pricking up hisears.
"Oh! we weren't talking about you that time," laughed Thad. "It happensthat you've got a namesake down in the town where we live, who's up toevery trick there is, that he thinks will afford him some fun;" and asthe guide expressed an interest in the matter, Thad detailed a few of thepractical jokes which were believed to lie at the doors of the three badboys of Cranford.
When he heard about the lights going out at the church, just when aconvert was about to be immersed, and the cries of the alarmed audience,together with shrieks from the frightened woman, who really thought shehad been transplanted from this world into another, since everythingbecame suddenly black around her, the guide grinned. He had never heardof such carrying on, and thought it was comical. But Thad knew that morethan one person had need of a doctor after that episode; and that ifactual proof could be procured concerning the culprits who cut theelectric wires, they would have been severely punished by the townfathers.
Somehow none of the boys seemed in such a hurry to lie down now. Thad'sstories of events which they knew from first hands started them talkingagain; and by degrees some of the rest related other doings that werecommonly laid at the door of the three Cranford scapegraces.
Bumpus changed his blanket three separate times in the course of half anhour. There was no draught now to complain of, since Eli had managed toget the door closed; but Thad noticed the fat and timid scout eying thatwide throat of the chimney; and really believed Bumpus had come tosuspect that it was large enough to admit of the passage of one of thosehungry wolves, should they find all other avenues of ingress closed tothem. And he did not fancy being directly in the road of the first onethat came in.
Bumpus knew that he must prove a juicy morsel for any half-starved beastof prey; and that, given the chance, they were just sure to pick him out.Giraffe was playing safe under any considerations, for the animal thatwould prefer that bag of bones must be out of its mind.
And Thad also made up his mind that after Bumpus got fairly to sleep hewould manage to get possession of the gun he had hitched closer to him,and which was the double-barreled weapon carried into the woods by Davy,who had made no protest when the stout boy coolly appropriated the same.
There could be no telling but that Bumpus, with his mind worked up overthat bear, and the wolf that had howled away off up the river, mightdream he was being hotly attacked. And a gun in the possession of agreenhorn can be even more dangerous under such conditions than if anadept handled it.
"I've just thought of a good thing," suddenly exclaimed Bumpus.
"Then get it out of your system in a hurry, or it'll hurt you," saidGiraffe.
"No danger of anything good ever hurting _you_, Giraffe," declared theother, with a fine show of sarcasm that caused the tall scout to grin;for somehow, when he and Bumpus got to exchanging compliments, Giraffealways seemed rather tickled if the other managed to give him a sly dig.
"Well, let's hear what struck you, all of a sudden," he remarked.
"It's about our honey," began Bumpus, seriously.
"What honey?" demanded Giraffe, pretending to look all around. "I haven'tseen any, that I know of."
"Oh! you know what I mean;" Bumpus went on; "the honey we expect to get,when Allan finds the bee tree. I'm just as dead sure he's goin' to do it,as I am of having my breakfast to-morrow morning."
"Well, I reckon Allan only wishes he was as sure as you are," Girafferemarked.
"Let him tell what's on his mind, can't you, Giraffe?" broke in DavyJones. "I think it's a shame how you badger that poor fellow. Don't youknow there's a law against cruelty to animals?"
"Monkeys are included under that law, please remember," retorted the fatboy, as he turned on his new tormentor. "But I suppose you fellows arejust dying to know the brilliant thought that just flashed into my mind alittle while ago?"
"Go on, and get it out," begged Step Hen.
"Yes, we want to know, if we're not from Missouri," added Allan.
"Well, there isn't any reason why we should waste a whole lot of it afterall, if we only know enough to use our brains, and take advantage of ouropportunities," Bumpus went on, with exasperating slowness, as thoughthis might be his method of getting even for the attack upon him.
"What sort of opportunities?" demanded Davy.
"Storage capacity," answered the other, simply.
"Now, its all very well to want to save the honey," observed Giraffe,eying the other suspiciously; "but if you expect us to fill up ourkettles, and every dish we've got along with us, you're off your base,Bumpus. We have to eat three times a day; and just fancy having even thecoffee pot jammed full of sticky sweetness."
"Guess again," remarked Bumpus, composedly. "Well, I suppose that I'lljust _have_ to tell you, because you'd never get on to such a brilliantidea in a thousand years. First thing, you didn't know I brought italong, perhaps. Don't hardly understand myself just why I borrowed itfrom Smithy; but I must have thought it'd come in handy, sometime orother. And it's going to, fellows; it's going to."
"What is?" shouted Giraffe, now at the end of his patience.
"Why, that cute little collapsible rubber foot bath belonging to ourcomrade, Smithy. You know he was such a clean feller, that he justcouldn't think of going anywhere at first, without carrying that tubalong. It holds quite a lot; and if we filled it with nice sweethoney----"
But
poor Bumpus did not get any further in his explanation. Roars oflaughter broke in upon his story; for the idea of filling a rubber footbath with the sticky product of a bee tree was too much for the rest ofthe boys. And Bumpus, after staring around in a hurt way, shrugged hisfat shoulders, and relapsed into silence, simply remarking.
"Oh! all right; that's all a feller gets for crackin' his brain trying tothink up things for the benefit of the whole bunch. I just guess that oldbear'll get the main part of our honey, after all."
"What's that? Do bears like honey, Allan?" demanded Giraffe.
"I should say they did," replied the Maine lad, readily enough. "They'rejust wild over it. A bear will overturn a hive, if ever he gets in agarden, and devour comb and all, like a regular pig."
"But the bees," continued the tall scout; "don't they sting him at all?Think of the thousands of little critters, each with his poison lance,stinging that poor bear."
"It doesn't seem to bother the bear one bit," Allan added. "I've knownthem to just clean out a hive; and when we shot the varmint justafterward, he didn't seem to have a swollen head from any stings. But ifwe should be lucky enough to find a bee tree, perhaps we'll coax ourfriend, the bear that was in this cabin, to come around; and then some ofyou can get a crack at him. His hide would make a rug to be proud of,especially if you had killed the beast yourself."
"Count me in on that game," said Giraffe, earnestly. "I boasted to theboys at home that I was goin' to bag a big bear; and if I don't make goodthey'll give me the laugh, you see. And then we'll find out whether thisheavy old rifle that belonged to my uncle, ain't equal to a new-fangledlittle popgun that shoots spreader bullets."
The boys had begun to show new signs of quieting down. Some were yawningagain, and the chances were the signal to crawl under the blankets wouldpresently have been given by Thad.
It was Bumpus who suddenly aroused the whole party. He sat upright on thefloor, and pointed directly at the window that was opposite to where hehad last thrown his blanket down. Thad saw that the face of the fat boyreally expressed surprise, not to mention consternation, as he cried out:
"Oh! I wonder who that was I saw peek in at the window just then, anddraw back when he caught me lookin' at him. A white man, too, fellers, itwas, believe me; I ain't foolin'!"
Everybody jumped up, the three guides as well as the boys, when Bumpusmade this astonishing declaration. But although their eyes instantlysought the window indicated, the cob-webbed glass betrayed no sign of thepresence of any one.